Assailants armed with rockets and assault rifles attacked a newly built checkpoint near the Afghan border in Pakistan before dawn yesterday, killing all eight security forces, officials said.
The attack happened in a village near Miran Shah, the main town in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region where the government has deployed thousands of troops and security forces in an effort to flush out remnants of the Taliban, al-Qaeda and their local supporters.
All eight soldiers guarding the checkpoint were killed, said a senior security official on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Another security official in the region, who also didn't want to be named, said over the phone that the slain troops had moved to the new checkpoint hours before the attack.
The official said that Pakistani armed forces backed by helicopters were now trying to track down the assailants.
House attack
Hours after the checkpoint attack, helicopter gunships fired on a home along the Pakistan-Afghan border, 50km west of Miran Shah, killing eight people and injuring several others, residents said.
Four women and four children were among the injured and were taken to a hospital in Miran Shah, said a resident who didn't want to be named.
The army could not immediately confirm the incident, and it wasn't immediately clear if the helicopter assault and checkpoint attack were linked.
Residents claim a US helicopter was involved. However, the Pakistani military also uses US-made helicopters provided by Washington.
The checkpoint was set up this week as part of Pakistan's efforts to stop insurgents from sneaking into the country or going back to Afghanistan, where US forces have been trying to flush out insurgents.
Key ally
Pakistan is a key ally of the US in its war on terror, and it has killed or captured scores of terror suspects and their local supporters in the North and South Waziristan regions after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the US.
The rebels often target security forces in retaliation.
The latest attack on security forces came in the same region where al-Qaeda operative Hamza Rabia was killed in December last year.
Pakistani officials said Rabia was killed in an explosion caused by bomb-making activities.
However, local residents said Rabia died in a missile attack, and parts of what appeared to be a missile were found at the site.
Neither Pakistani nor US officials have confirmed that version of the incident.
Rabia gained prominence after the arrest of al-Qaeda's suspected No. 3 Abu Farraj al-Libbi in Pakistan in May.
Al-Libbi -- who twice tried to assassinate Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf for aiding Washington's war on terror -- was later turned over to the US for further investigation.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
RSS